{"product_id":"strange-borderlands-poems-paperback","title":"Strange Borderlands: Poems - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBen Berman\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eStrange Borderlands, \u003c\/em\u003e Ben Berman's first full-length collection, counterpoises insights with uncertainties while chronicling the poet's immersion in a new culture. In compelling metrical, free verse and prose poems, Berman provides a vivid narrative of exotic adventures, especially his Peace Corps service in Zimbabwe-the people, the land, and his \"struggling with the blurred lines of where things end\" on his return home. This distinctive collection can go from humorous to heartbreaking, and is spellbinding from start to finish-a rare achievement.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR STRANGE BORDERLANDS: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's wonderful first book, \u003cem\u003eStrange Borderlands, \u003c\/em\u003e is a masterful study in the power and limits of empathy, of respect for difference in tension with the urgent need for common ground. Beyond his formal and stylistic range, linguistic flexibility, eye for detail, irrepressible wit and powerful feeling, what's most impressive about this terrific book is Berman's inclusive generous spirit, the deadly serious imaginative play he exercises in every line of every poem. This is a book to cherish.\u003cbr\u003e --Alan Shapiro\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThese are poems that weigh, consider, and restore some flesh-and-blood meaning to the experience of multiculturalism, a word so overused it is often flattened out to a platitude or piety. But not in this book.\u003cbr\u003e --Fred Marchant (from the \"Foreword\")\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's lyric poems set in Zimbabwe dig deep into \u003cem\u003ethe casual and the casualty\u003c\/em\u003e of daily life: the hammer striking the sheep's head, the sustenance that follows; disciplinary beatings that students, giggly and protesting, \u003cem\u003ecould count and count on to fade.\u003c\/em\u003e Unassuming but wise, compassionate yet wildly, unpredictably funny at times, Berman delivers to us escalating hardships that somehow \u003cem\u003eelevated us toward the sacred;\u003c\/em\u003e the pathetic harvest and \u003cem\u003esweetness that comes from the least likely of places. \u003c\/em\u003eThis \u003cem\u003eleast likely of places\u003c\/em\u003e is where Berman thrives, calling on closely observed facts to chronicle the perimeters of tenderness and cruelty. I believe every word in this collection. This is an unforgettable debut by a powerful and humble voice.\u003cbr\u003e --Dzvinia Orlowsky\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBen Berman's marvelous first book, \u003cem\u003eStrange Borderlands, \u003c\/em\u003e chronicles in startling and unforgettable poems his sojourn in Zimbabwe and his immersion in a culture that both embraces and exiles him, attracts and reproaches, changing him forever. Using a variety of poetic approaches--rhymed couplets, prose paragraphs, sonnets, free verse--he gives us a multi-tonal description of landscapes that are as elusive as they are inviting, as unfamiliar to most of us as they are intuitively recognizable. This is a compelling poetry of \"strange borderlands where distance and intimacy collide.\"\u003cbr\u003e --Gregory Djanikian\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBen Berman\u003c\/strong\u003e grew up in Maine, served in the Peace Corps in Zimbabwe and currently lives in the Boston area with his wife and daughter. He has received the Erika Mumford Prize from the New England Poetry Club and Artist Fellowships from the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Somerville Arts Council. \u003cem\u003eStrange Borderlands\u003c\/em\u003e is his first full-length collection. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 104\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.25 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 31, 2013\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42742141845567,"sku":"9781927409053","price":25.86,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/e4030dd38125ff466af44b3cff342753.webp?v=1765162849","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/strange-borderlands-poems-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}